Good Lady Cate has been making some very strong, if slightly puzzling style choices as she promotes The House with a Clock in Its Walls. She has a history of switching up her promo style based on the kind of film she’s promoting (period drama, superhero movie, feminist heist picture) and since spooky children’s movie is something of a departure for her, she may just be trying to feel her way through. At least, that’s how this is coming across to us. Between her wackysuit the other day and this look, her choices are very declarative, but feel more than a bit off to us.

Here’s the thing about wearing edgy designs or garments with one overwhelmingly strong design element on a talk show: the audience at home can’t see anything else. A look like this is fine – great, even – for a red carpet, where you have to stand and pose and do little else. But if you have to sit and chat and try to sell tickets with the force of your charm and personality, a distracting outfit is a mistake. Even if you’re remembered later, you become “Did you see that weird thing Cate Blanchett was wearing on Kimmel?” We’re actually a bit surprised to see her making what we would consider a mistake like this.